A Swan Story
by amgglekim
Summary: We all know that Renee left Charlie when Bella was six months old. What we don't know is the story of their whirlwind romance, the love that Charlie felt for Renee or what he felt when she walked out the door. This is Charlie's story.


Charlie had always been a level headed; no nonsense kind of guy. He was the son and grandson of policemen, and he knew from the first time he played cops and robbers as a boy that he would follow in their footsteps.

He had planned his life out at the age of 13, and no one had ever been able to convince him to stray from his plan. School, Army, Academy, work in Seattle or Portland for a few years and then head back to Forks to work in the local department, working his way up to Chief. Charlie was sure that someday he might marry and have children, but it had never been high on his priority list until the day he met her.

Always quiet, Charlie made a few friends thru school and later on in the military. He was discharged with honors, deciding to study law enforcement at the University of California instead of re-enlisting for another year. He was accepted into the Law Enforcement program at UofC Riverside campus and found a small apartment. He loved the new campus, not far from several beautiful state parks with great fishing so that he never felt all that far from home.

It was about halfway thru Charlie's first semester at Riverside when he first saw her. At first he thought he must be dreaming, his heart pounding in his chest as she walked by him smelling of strawberries and sunshine; her long brown hair glistening in the sun. He stood still and just watched as she walked away, her laugh twinkling in the fall air like the sound of bells. For a brief moment he swore she turned around and winked at him before climbing the stairs to the Education building, but Charlie knew he must have imagined that moment. Why would an angel like that want anything to do with a bore like him?

Renee Higgenbotham was your typical California girl. Flighty and free, a vegetarian one week, a radical member of PETA the next, Renee was always in search of a place that she belonged. Renee had only ever made two firm decisions in her lifetime. The first was that she would be a teacher, one of the cool teachers that everyone flocked to of course, never one of those straight laced uptight old biddies she dreaded. The second decision was that she would love freely, openly and without reservation; marriage wasn't even mentioned in her small notebook that she had filled with all the things she wanted to try in her lifetime, and that was perfectly okay. She would go to school, become self-sufficient and then see the world.

She was in her first semester at the University of California, going to the Riverside campus so that she could stay at home and save the money spent on dorm room or apartment living. Her parents had converted the space above the garage so that she could come and go as she pleased, and Renee adored every freedom that this provided her with.

It was about mid-October the first time she laid eyes on him, her heart skipping a beat as she casually committed to memory the sight of the dark haired man that stood in front of her. He was tall, around 6'2", with dark chestnut hair, cut high and tight. "Military, probably" she mused to herself and she allowed her eyes to glance over the muscles in his arms, accented by his well fitted Izod shirt.

"Hey, anyone know who that guy is? The one near the fountain," Renee asked her friends as they started up the stairs to the Education building.

After receiving a few odd looks, and a negative response from her friends, Renee turned to gaze at him one last time before heading into the building, winking at him as she turned to walk thru the door.

"I don't know who he is either," Renee said aloud to her group of friends; "but I intend to find out."

A/N: So, what do you think so far? I've read hundreds upon hundreds of fan-fics and I've never read a Charlie/Renee story and I figured it was about time that Charlie got his say.

This introduction is in third person, and most of the story will either be in third person or in Charlie's POV. This is his story to tell, from the moment that he first saw Renee to finding out she's expecting. From the moment she leaves him to the moment he see's Bella in the airport, knowing that his little girl has finally come home. Depending on your response, I might even do moments thru the series, like how he felt when Bella walked out of his door when she's on the run from James etc… we'll see.

I'm really nervous about this one, so your feedback is really appreciated. I've got about 25 or 30 pages of this story written already, and I'll get you the next chapter if the response is positive. I'd like to see if people actually want to READ this before I devote tons of time into editing what I have into chapters etc…

Hugs, Kim


End file.
